-
Much as Eric Schollsberg’s Fast Food Nation made people think about the way we eat, this provocative memoir and exposé challenges readers to question why, given its long history of cover-ups and systemic safety gaps, we continue to trust the aviation industry. On a stormy late May morning in 2008, TACA Airlines Flight 390 crashes at one of the most dangerous airports in the world, Honduras’s Toncontin International Airport. Five people die in the crash—among them Rossana D’Antonio’s brother, pilot Cesare D’Antonio. Suspecting Cesare will be made a scapegoat for the accident, as so often happens to pilots, Rossana decides to leverage her decades of experience as an engineer and set out in search of the truth. Part memoir, part exposé, 26 Seconds interweaves Rossana’s research regarding other parallel accidents with her own story. Six months after the TACA crash, Captain Sully Sullenberger lands his plane on the Hudson River. Although authorities call his landing a miracle, they also blame him for its necessity. One year after the TACA 390 tragedy, Air France 447 falls from the sky. Again, pilot error. As Rossana digs deeper, she exposes a culture that is too quick to conclude pilot error and an industry that experiences systemic weaknesses, chooses profits over safety, lies to its customers, and is willing to risk lives to get its planes back up in the sky. Ultimately, she uncovers the smoking gun she’s been looking for—revealing the truth about TACA 390, exposing aviation cover-ups, and challenging us all to question the very systems we’ve been told we can trust with our lives. Author: Rossana D'Antonio Publication Date: May 13, 2025 -
INSPIRATION FOR HOW TO CREATE A LIFE OF PURPOSE, NO WOMAN LEFT BEHIND IS THE UNLIKELY STORY OF HOW ONE WOMAN LEAVES MADISON AVENUE AND TACKLES THE GLOBAL MATERNAL HEALTH CRISIS HEAD ON. The day a woman gives birth is also the day she is most likely to die or suffer severe injury—a sobering reality that comes into sharp focus when Kate Grant visits the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia’s capital. There, she sees row after row of beds occupied by young women afflicted with obstetric fistula, a childbirth injury that leaves them incontinent and too often shunned by their communities, modern- day lepers. She soon learns that surgery is the only way to end their suffering. In No Woman Left Behind, Grant recounts her decision to abandon a promising advertising career, and the ups and downs of building Silicon Valley– based Fistula Foundation from a modest start-up into the global leader in fistula treatment. Through vivid firsthand accounts of surgeons toiling in remote corners of Africa and Asia, we see inside the fight to restore hope to some of the world’s most vulnerable women. A compassionate army of donors spanning nearly 70 countries makes such life-changing care possible. Grant demonstrates the profound power of individual action to change lives at scale, since Fistula Foundation takes no government money. No Woman Left Behind is a compelling personal journey and a how-to guide for anyone looking to make a lasting difference in the lives of others. 100% of the net proceeds from No Woman Left Behind will go to Fistula Foundation’s Love-a-Sister program to fund free surgeries for women with childbirth injuries. Author: Kate Grant Publication Date: May 6, 2025 -
In the blink of an eye life can become a reminder of the dreams and goals you let go of. When Betsy Armstrong’s mother unexpectedly dies, she makes the choice to be better than the mistakes of her family’s past and build anew in the life she wants and dreams of. What is legacy, and how will I leave one? Betsy Armstrong asks herself this question after her forty-six-year-old mother dies with a list of regrets and her stepfather completely disinherits her. Alone, Betsy sets about building a life of no regrets: becoming a marathon runner and Ironman triathlete, quitting a cushy corporate job to lead a life of service, and overcoming a crippling fear of commitment to marry. Still, she’s always running from the grief she can’t escape. As Betsy’s forty-seventh birthday approaches, she finally confronts her losses and begins reflecting on the one thing she’d never considered: children. Inspired by a friend’s adoption, Betsy and her husband, Doug, choose that path but face daunting obstacles—a failed adoption, a Russian courtroom drama, and a medical crisis in a tiny Russian town seven time zones away from Moscow. As the outcome of the adoption waxes and wanes, Betsy is forced to make the biggest decision of her life: How far will she go to become a mother? Author: Betsy Armstrong Publication Date: May 6, 2025 -
For fans of Natasha Trethewey and Maggie Smith, a mother-daughter story of multigenerational trauma, grief, discovery, and love, with the backdrops of an historic American tragedy and an iconic family business, written in lyrical, fragmented form. In 1960, six years before Marty Ross-Dolen was born, her maternal grandparents were killed in an airline disaster involving the collision of two commercial jets over New York City. They were traveling from Columbus, Ohio, to seek placement for their family’s iconic magazine, Highlights for Children, on the newsstands. Their daughter—Marty’s mother—was fourteen years old at the time. This genre-bending memoir tells Marty’s story of being raised by a mother in protracted mourning. The fragmented narrative explores Marty’s journey, from personal ways of coping as a child to the evolution of a mother-daughter relationship that matured over time. It is also about her longing to know her maternal grandmother, and through saved letters and photographs from her grandmother’s life, she enters a fantastical relationship that serves to replace one that otherwise could never exist. Ultimately it is about the discovery of truth, in unearthing the story of her grandparents’ deaths and her mother’s acute loss, in freeing her grandmother’s image from the weight of a tragic death, and in Marty’s own delivery from darkness. Beyond that, it is about universal life choices, the ways human beings unknowingly determine their destinies, and the healing powers of truth and love. Author: Marty Ross-Dolen Publication Date: May 6, 2025 -
For true-crime fans, a gripping memoir of a domestic violence survivor who becomes a police detective in the domestic violence unit and is forced to face her demons when her first major case mirrors her own violent assault. Standing Up invites you on an exhilarating journey with a woman who refuses to be defined by her scars. A pulse-pounding chronicle of survival against all odds, this memoir takes readers along on a plunge into the chilling depths of abusive relationships. At the tender age of twenty-three, Mary Sweeney-Devine unwittingly stumbled into the clutches of her abuser, igniting anguish and despair. With each heart-wrenching trial, including a hospital visit, she unearthed a reservoir of resilience she didn’t know she possessed. But just when she thought she had weathered the storm, a second marriage to a recovering alcoholic unleashed a tempest of secrets and unforeseen challenges. Yet Devine emerged from the darkness, fueled by an unyielding determination and a fierce spirit. With the help of unexpected allies, determination, and a sprinkling of humor, she navigated the treacherous terrain of her past—and reclaimed her life with courage. Offering hope to those ensnared in the vicious cycle of abuse, Standing Up is a riveting testament to Devine’s indomitable spirit and a gripping saga that will leave you breathlessly rooting for the victory of the human heart over adversity. Author: Mary L. Devine Publication Date: May 6, 2025 -
At the tender age of twenty, Jenn faces a pivotal moment when her boyfriend, Morey, proposes marriage after only a few weeks of dating. Her intuition urges her to say no, but she’s spent the entirety of her teenage years caregiving for family; she yearns for adventure, and she thinks relocating to California with Morey will give her the freedom she craves. So she says yes—only to find herself back in the caregiver role after he becomes disabled a few years into their marriage. But it’s Morey’s volatile personality that ultimately leads Jenn to make a brave decision: it’s time to leave. Dancing on My Own Two Feet takes a poignant turn as Jenn relocates to New York City after her divorce. Here, she rediscovers a long-forgotten passion for dance and embarks on a transformative journey that transcends the physicality of movement. Each dance becomes a channel to tap into her inner wisdom, providing the courage to explore the world and embrace new adventures. Then Jenn encounters Gable, a potential suitor, prompting new questions to arise for her: Is she better off on her own? Or could Gable be the love and dance partner she’s been longing for? Author: Jenn Todling Publication Date: April 29, 2025 -
There is a common belief that an ordinary response to atrocities is to banish them from consciousness, as Diana did as a child and as an adult. Even as a young child, she endured and survived unspeakable traumas and adversities. As a national expert on child abuse and neglect, Diana English is uniquely qualified to write this deeply personal memoir. The Well of Sorrow follows Diana and her young siblings in their determination to survive the household their mother deemed “too violent” to stay in. Diana’s childhood is one of violence and trauma but also a story of healing and survival sustained by sibling connection, serendipity, random acts of kindness, grit, and a will to survive. Author: Diana English Publication Date: April 29, 2025 -
Ana Hebra Flaster was six years old when her working-class family was kicked out of their Havana barrio for opposing communism. Once devoted revolutionaries themselves but disillusioned by the Castro government’s repressive tactics, they fled to the US. The permanent losses they suffered—of home, country, and loved ones, all within forty-eight hours—haunted her multigenerational family as they reclaimed their lives and freedom in 1967 New Hampshire. There, they fed each other stories of their scrappy barrio—some of which Hebra Flaster has shared on All Things Considered—to resurrect their lost world and fortify themselves for a daunting task: building a new life in a foreign land. Weaving pivotal events in Cuba–US history with her viejos’—elders’—stories of surviving political upheaval, impossible choices, and “refugeedom,” Property of the Revolution celebrates the indomitable spirit and wisdom of the women warriors who led the family out of Cuba, shaped its rebirth as Cuban Americans, and helped Ana grow up hopeful, future-facing—American. But what happens when deeply buried childhood memories resurface, demanding an adult’s reckoning? Here’s how the fiercest love, the most stubborn will, and the power of family put nine new Americans back on their feet. Author: Ana Hebra Flaster Publication Date: April 22, 2025 -
Raw and riveting, Girl, Groomed is seasoned psychotherapist Carol Odell’s evolving story of coming to terms with the impacts of her own history of sexual abuse and violence at the hands of a predatory horse trainer who, for far too much of her young life, held all the reins. Set in the equestrian world of Virginia, this candid memoir details how, starting at ten years old, Carol falls under the spell of Clarentine, the charismatic—and explosively violent—owner of the stables just down the hill from her house. In tandem with that story, Carol examines the multi-faceted consequences of the complex trauma that resulted from the exploitive relationship Clarentine cultivated with her—including the resulting crisis she blindly imposes on her marriage. Chapters toggle back and forth between scenes of her childhood growing up jumping horses on the show circuit and the therapy sessions she later undergoes as an adult. Using her own journey as an example, Carol demonstrates in this insightful memoir how unintegrated trauma limits us and our connection with others—and how the work of uncovering and reintegrating “what we do with what happens to us” can become the very source of our liberation. Author: Carol Odell, LICSW Publication Date: April 22, 2025 -
Born into the baby boomer generation, Mary Helen Fein’s values and choices often typified the time. At age five, she identified what she calls “Moments of knowing”: moments of knowing more about love and creativity. As a child, her father was a loving successful New Yorker who left her mother to remarry another woman. Fein’s own mother was very beautiful, but desperately poor and an alcoholic, living in the projects on welfare. To get by, she remarried—but the man was evil, a child molester and a cruel stepfather. Fein traveled back and forth from coast to coast, spending school years with her mother and stepfather, and summers with her father, loving grandmother, and new stepmother. At age thirteen her mother dies, and Fein embarked on a new life in an upper-class New York suburb. Over the next thirty years she journeys through careers and healing, embracing the “spark” when it arrives over and over throughout her life, affecting her life choices and putting her on a spiritual path to Buddhism. With themes of spiritual practices, mental illness, poverty, and the power of psychotherapy, this book will appeal to self-help and memoir readers, showing how to find happiness, peace, and enduring love despite a traumatic childhood. Author: Mary Helen Fein Publication Date: April 9, 2025 -
When Sally learns that her twenty-one-year-old son Christopher died tragically in a boat accident, her greatest fear is realized. Christopher was often drawn to risk and struggled with addiction, and in this riveting memoir, Sally captures the wild ride of his jam-packed life and her deep love for him while also reflecting on her own childhood and family legacy of alcoholism. This book is for any parent raising a child from the edge of their seat, or for those suffering the trauma of losing a child. Sally shares insights about what it’s like to experience the emotional aftershocks of acute grief, and readers may see themselves in Sally’s bittersweet illusion of trying to keep Christopher safe; in how she is challenged to let go of her fear, guilt, and regret in order to forgive herself; and in the ways grief teaches her about the power of love. Reaching for Beautiful is a luminous story of how love triumphs over pain, love transcends fear, and love never dies. Author: Sally McQuillen Publication Date: April 1, 2025 -
Although Asperger syndrome is considered a form of autism, few people are aware of its existence and even fewer can recognize it. Barely Visible is not a series of helpful hints and best practices, or a heroic tale of a champion parent. It is a relatable story of one mother’s struggle with the gray space between her son appearing normal on the surface and being not quite normal beneath it. Walking that fine line between when to say something and when to bite your tongue, hoping your child can handle life on his own, requires tremendous discernment and energy. How do you convince others to “cut your child some slack” when the kid they see looks like every other kid they know? How do you explain away behavior that, at face value, looks like the result of bad parenting? And how do you prevent others from discriminating against your child once you do disclose their disability? Chronicling a journey spanning twenty-three years, Barely Visible is a mother’s admission of guilt. for choosing to ignore her son’s diagnosis initially; acceptance of defeat, for rarely knowing the right thing to do; and an acknowledgment of love—not only for her son, but for herself. Author: Kathleen Somers Publication Date: April 1, 2025 -
After 27 years of motherhood, Rita Lussier’s youngest child heads to New York City and Rita drives home to what she thinks will be the calm after the storm only to find no comfort, nothing familiar. Welcome to the Great Big Empty Nest! The parenting mission that had infused Rita’s days and nights with so much purpose has abruptly changed leaving her lost and confused, not an ideal state of mind to begin the messy and uncomfortable process of reinventing her life. Rekindling her marriage and friendships. Kickstarting her career. Making difficult choices about her house, finances and future all the while adjusting to the ever-changing demands of growing-up children and aging parents. And Now, Back to Me invites readers along as Rita recreates nearly every aspect of her life at a time when she thought she’d be kicking back to enjoy it. As a columnist for The Providence Journal, it was precisely these types of personal glimpses that endeared readers to her column making it a popular feature of the newspaper for a dozen years. In her book, Rita shares her experiences with the issues that not only confront her at this crossroads, but millions of parents as well. Author: Rita Lussier Publication Date: March 25, 2025 -
In Dancing on Coals, Cynthia Moore describes a multi-decade, harebrained search for love in all the wrong places, starting when her narcissistic mother abandons her to a Swiss finishing school. Devastated by her mother’s betrayal, eleven-year-old Cynthia vows to become acceptable—but to whom? Seeking approval first as a madcap performance artist and then an as over-functioning therapist, our narrator is finally forced to abandon her competitive, masculine compulsivity for a genuine quest for inner truth. Ultimately, she finds her voice, develops her gifts, and discovers love, but not where she expected to find it. At times humorous and self-deprecating, at times poignant and heartbreaking, this is the story of one woman’s path from abandonment to wholeness and authenticity. Author: Cynthia Moore Publication Date: March 25, 2025 -
Patricia Eagle’s account of her lifetime of relationships with dogs reveals the clarity, strength, and wisdom she gained from them, even in the most challenging of situations, over six decades. As Eagle chronicles the lives of her ten dogs over seven decades and the lessons she’s learned from them—including how to become a better dog owner and companion, and even a better human—her dogs come alive on the page, each with their own unique personality, from the feisty to the meek. If you are a dog person, if you are considering getting a dog yourself, or if you want to better understand someone who loves dogs—this book is for you. With the benefit of Eagle’s hard-earned wisdom, discover how dogs can change you and can help you learn to listen better, to trust and be trusted, to nurture with devotion, and to love with all your heart. Author: Patricia Eagle Publication Date: March 18, 2025 -
Faced with the possibility of losing their three-day-old second child when she contracts meningitis, Norman and Rita Angelini experience all five stages of grief. Terrified for their daughter, they bargain, plead, and beg for a miracle—and they get one, but it isn’t what they expected: though KiKi survives, her illness results in severe brain damage, and she is ultimately diagnosed with cerebral palsy. In the aftermath of this diagnosis, denial and anger take over. Rita fights to keep her vision of who she thinks KiKi could be, and she channels her energy into searching for a procedure—some therapy—that would change KiKi’s outcome. In pursuit of a cure, the Angelini family treks across the United States and abroad—but somewhere along the way, acceptance of and joy in who KiKi is prevails over the idea of “fixing” her. A memoir of unending hope, faith lost and rediscovered, and unconditional love, An Unexpected Normal offers other parents of children born with a disability hope that joy is always within reach—even in the most challenging of circumstances. Author: Rita T. Angelini Publication Date: February 17, 2025 -
Beginning at the age of five, Sondra spends decades auditioning for the role of her authentic self. Her dazzling mother casts her as confidante and co-conspirator in her affairs and serial marriages. Sondra vacillates between fierce anger toward her mother—who does nothing to protect her from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse—and a desperate need for her love and approval. As an adult, Sondra enters into and stays in a toxic marriage for years, engaging in affairs with married men rather than divorcing. When therapy and AA eventually propel her out of the sense-deadening haze of alcohol and cigarettes, she summons the courage to tell her husband she plans to leave him. He reacts by playing on her biggest fear, telling her, “You’re going to turn out just like your mother.” Sondra attempts to establish a sober and separate identity, but tensions between her and her mother further increase when she marries someone new—a man who displaces her mother as the epicenter of her life—and her mother’s seventh marriage ends. During this time, traumatic childhood memories suddenly surface and a seismic shift occurs, freeing Sondra from her need for maternal connection. But establishing a life independent from her mother proves far more complicated than she could have imagined. Author: Sondra R. Brooks Publication Date: March 4, 2025 -
Adopted as an infant by a naval officer and his wife during the Baby Scoop Era, Diane Wheaton has always heard conflicting versions of the truth of her origins—but it’s not until she is forty-seven years old that she begins to search for her biological family in earnest. Amid search and reunion, however, Diane’s adoptive parents become ill—and while overseeing their care, she is told about a secret they have kept from her for over fifteen years. This shocking disclosure complicates her already complicated feelings for them, and she finds herself faced with an important decision—one that feels almost impossible to make, but which results in a level of healing she never could have anticipated. A touching memoir of self-discovery, Finding Loretta is Diane’s tale of searching for history, roots, and family. Ultimately, she comes to accept the two distinct dynamics of the families who have helped make her who she is today, and in doing so she learns to embrace herself and feel grateful for everything she has experienced—even loss. Author: Diane Wheaton Publication Date: March 4, 2025 -
Through braided memories that flash against the present day, Portrait of a Feminist depicts the evolution of Marianna Marlowe’s identity as a biracial and multicultural woman—from her childhood in California, Peru, and Ecuador to her adulthood as an academic, a wife, and a mother. How does the inner life of a feminist develop? How does a writer observe the world around her and kindle, from her earliest memories, a flame attuned to the unjust? With writing that is simultaneously wise and shimmering, nuanced and direct, Marlowe confronts her own experiences with the hallmarks of patriarchy. Interweaving stories of life as the child of a Catholic Peruvian mother and an atheist American father in a family that lived many years abroad, she examines realities familiar to so many of us—unequal marriages, class structures, misogynist literature, and patriarchal religion. Portrait of a Feminist explores the essential questions of feminism in our time: What does it look like to live in defense of feminism? How should feminism be evolving today? Author: Marianna Marlowe Publication Date: February 25, 2025 -
In this courageous memoir of parental love, intergenerational trauma, and perseverance, Joan Sung breaks the generational silence that curses her family. By intentionally overcoming the stereotype that all Asians are quiet, Sung tells her stories of coming-of-age with a Tiger Mom who did not understand American society. Torn between her two identities as a Korean woman and a first generation American, Sung bares her struggles in an honest and bare confessional. Sifting through her experiences with microaggressions to the over fetishization of Asian women, Sung connects the COVID pandemic with the decades of violence and racism experienced by Asian American communities. Author: Joan Sung Publication Date: February 25, 2025 -
An updated twist on the classic Under the Tuscan Sun, this is the deeply personal story of how fiftysomething Barbara Boyle leaves her busy and familiar life behind in San Francisco and begins taking apart a 300-year-old stone barn to build a new home—a new life—in the largely undiscovered region of Piedmont, Italy. Filled with discoveries and pleasures of the stunning places and food she encounters, Pinch Me also details Barbara’s frustrations in adjusting to a new culture, as well as the startling heartbreak of being faced with a breast cancer diagnosis. But even in the midst of this crisis, she and her husband create a home out of the stone ruin they had found, forming deep friendships in their little town and unlocking a new level of joy in life. She shares intimate moments, joyous and bittersweet, as a new wife, stepmom, and a member of a community—and, of course, she shares a few recipes reflecting the gastronomical excellence of the region. A touching memoir filled with food, friendships, and scenes of Italy, Pinch Me is ultimately a celebration of love, of learning to see the world, as well as oneself, through a different window, and of the powerful joy that comes from building a dream. Author: Barbara Boyle Publication Date: February 11, 2025 -
What is it like to grow up as an adoptee and be raised with your identical twin? In this coming-of-age memoir, set in Chicago’s western suburbs during the 1960s to 1980s, adopted twin sisters Julie and Jenny become the oldest daughters in a big family made up of a mixture of adopted and biological children. The twins’ sisterly bond is tight as the two strive for individuality, identity, and belonging. But Julie’s parents’ continual addition of adopted and biological children to the family leads to a number of painful experiences: they encounter infertility, infant mortality, a child with special needs, and then, when Julie is sixteen, a sudden family tragedy. Faced with these challenges, Julie questions everything—who she is, how she fits in, the circumstances of her adoption, where she belongs, her faith and idea of family. As their family values, parental relationships, and sibling bonds are tested, Julie realizes her adoptive family is held together by love, faith, support, and her parents’ commitment to each other and family. But the life her parents have constructed is not one that Julie wants for herself—and as she grows older, she realizes how her parents’ goals and dreams differ from her own, and how the experiences that have formed her have provided a road map for the person and mother she wants to be. Author: Julie Ryan McGue Publication Date: February 4, 2025 -
Thank you for always loving me, Aimee Kaufman’s daughter, Sam, wrote in a Mother’s Day card at twenty-two years old. Reading those words, Aimee knew she’d been right to follow her heart throughout her younger daughter’s tumultuous childhood. Aimee spent many years doubting herself and fielding hurtful criticism about the way she was raising her daughter. But through it all, she stubbornly held to the belief that whatever tools and tricks she and Sam picked up from her own copious research and the experts she sought out to help her daughter, the true key to Sam’s happiness and success was unconditional love. In the end, the strong bond she cultivated with her daughter is what allowed them both to survive all the ups and downs—and, eventually, get Sam through school and into a career where she thrived. Heartfelt but clear-eyed, No One Else I’d Rather Be is an encouraging resource for parents looking to feel more confidence in the decisions they make regarding their child with a disability—and a testament to the power of a parent’s unconditional love. Author: Aimee Kaufman Publication Date: January 28, 2025 -
Families who have supported a child with special needs will connect with this memoir about Sarah, a feisty girl with autism and a unique genetic blueprint. Her mom, Jenny, is equally feisty and determined, which leads her to make a commitment that dramatically changes her and Sarah’s lives—as well as those of many others. Sarah’s early years are filled with challenges, and Jenny and her husband, Carl, try various therapies in an effort to help her. At four years old, Sarah is still nonverbal, still doesn’t use the potty, and still struggles with eating. Jenny knows she must do more. She has heard of a method developed by the Autism Treatment Center of America called The Son-Rise Program, which, through loving, supportive interaction, aims to foster social connection in people with autism. It is a huge undertaking, requiring hours of one-on-one therapeutic playtime, which means Jenny needs to find and train volunteers to make it possible. Though Jenny isn’t sure she can do it, she decides to try. She calls her program Sarah-Rise. Accompany Jenny as Sarah’s language explodes, her eye contact intensifies, and she plays games, plays imaginatively, uses the potty, eats healthily, reads, and writes. Have your heart warmed and your socks knocked off by this momentous journey. Author: Jennifer Celeste Briggs Publication Date: January 21, 2025 -
Rikki West’s tale begins with her Catholic childhood in a Chicago suburb. As a little girl, she prays for her drunk father, begging God not to send him to hell. As a rebellious adolescent, she abandons religion, yet she yearns to connect with something more loving and peaceful than the human mind. As a teen on the California coast in the 1960s, she seeks union with higher consciousness through drugs and mantra repetition. And as a young woman studying at UC Berkeley, she gives up spiritual matters and shifts her trust to science as the only reliable truth. But something is missing for her—and when she launches her career in Silicon Valley, the drinking culture forces her to confront her own demons. Relying on Alcoholics Anonymous and therapy to stay sober, Rikki gravitates to Eastern spirituality to find her genuine self and relationship to the universe. But after years of fasting, chanting, and praying, she still finds herself seeking more—and ultimately, it is only when she throws overboard all her notions of God and truth that something unexpected and wonderful blossoms in her world. The Empty Bowl is the story of a human seeking self-knowledge—fraught with victories and disappointments, streaked with longing for love and peace. Author: Rikki West Publication Date: January 14, 2025 -
Fans of Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died will love this true story of a damaged primal bond between mother and daughter that, after decades of estrangement, was finally repaired. The conflict began when Carla, as a preteen, stepped in to defend her father against what she perceived as her mother’s harsh treatment—a move that destroyed the warm love she and her mother had for each other and began an “ice age” between them. Forty years later, determined that this mother and daughter not end as tragedy, Carla uses every tool available to her—psychology, diplomacy, humanity, wit, patience—to try to repair their bond. Finally, over her mother’s kitchen table, they melt the ice and find their way back to laughter and closeness. Too often today, problem relationships are labeled “toxic,” with the idea it is “healing” to offload a relationship no longer serving you. This loving, grounded memoir shows that rebuilding a primal bond is doable—and will prompt readers to ask themselves, Could I do the same? What if I reached out, today? Author: Carla Seaquist Publication Date: January 14, 2025 -
Lisa Cheek loved editing TV commercials—almost as much as she loved her dog, Ron Howard. Then, she “aged out” of advertising, at 45. After being let go, Lisa got a call—at 2:45 AM—from a director who, like everyone in Hollywood, had a film he wanted to make: the original Cinderella story. Now, his dream could come true—if Lisa granted his wish. In Sit, Cinderella, Sit, Lisa Cheek shares her adventures in editing a film made on location in China—along the Tibetan border—where Mandarin was the only language spoken by everyone but her. Stuck in a house with fourteen men she couldn’t understand, literally, she yearned for conversation and coffee. But there were moments of wonder and laughter. Lisa forged a bond with her translator and a woman named Sunny. She rescued one dog, and then another. “Everyone speaks Cinderella,” the director had assured her. Maybe he was right. Told with humor and heart through a fairy tale lens, with flashbacks into the author’s not-always-happy childhood, Sit, Cinderella, Sit is a story about what can happen when you take a leap of faith, look and hear beyond people’s differences, and dare to believe in yourself. Author: Lisa Cheek Publication Date: January 14, 2025 -
Alfa Foxtrot 586, a P-3 Orion turboprop, was conducting a sensitive Cold War mission off the Kamchatka Peninsula on October 26, 1978, when a propeller malfunction turned into four engine fires and the pilot—Loreen Grigsby’s husband, Jerry—was forced to ditch into remote, mountainous seas churned by a frigid North Pacific storm. The aircraft sank within ninety seconds, taking one of the three rafts with it—which left thirteen men to huddle together in the remaining two rafts, the smaller of which soon began to leak. Told from Loreen’s perspective as a navy wife at home as well as through the eyes of the men who survived the disaster, All Eternity Lies Before Me weaves a gripping tale of struggle, uncertainty, grief, and heroism. It shares Loreen’s terror as she receives notifications about her husband’s crew’s desperate battle against wind, seas, and biting cold. It details the ad hoc search and rescue mission, a valiant effort to rescue the men before time runs out. And, tragically, it tells how a young Navy wife becomes a widow and single mom. But Jerry’s death is not the end of Loreen’s story—and in the years following his loss, she discovers resilience, strength, and even new love with one of the accident survivors, Matt Gibbons. As she begins her journey toward a brighter future, she’s inspired by the camaraderie and brotherhood forged between the survivors and their rescuers—and ultimately, the long-term lessons learned by all involved become part of the lasting legacy of this event. Author: Loreen Gibbons Publication Date: January 7, 2025 -
Each eye-opening chapter in this self-help memoir highlights Tarot reader Jill Amy Sager’s self-discovery after unexpectedly channeling wisdom from the Universe. What she learned ignited profound change: she went from having grown up physically disabled and believing she is unlovable to feeling confident and content in her own skin. We all want to feel good about ourselves. Yet we can struggle far longer than we need to, unable to remove blocks getting in the way. We often feel stuck and forget to give ourselves the grace, acceptance, and compassion we so readily give to others. Here, Sager shares thirty insightful messages from a sage source she calls “Guidance” alongside illuminating personal stories that showcase how these teachings have improved her life. There are also thought-provoking questions to encourage your spiritual journey. This book is a wake-up call—a nourishing reminder that each of us matters, and therefore treating ourselves with kindness, love, and respect is essential. Guidance shows us how to relax into our natural state of being, feeling more at ease in our vast and beautiful hearts, and Sager’s stories illustrate just how attainable this state of being is. Ultimately, we discover that this enlightened life-changing shift is key to the happiness we seek and the welcomed harmony the world needs. Author: Jill Amy Sager Publication Date: January 7, 2025 -
She wants to travel the world; he wants to keep working. At sixty, Leah Fisher is ready to Love, Honor, and Negotiate. The result is a long-married couple’s decision to commence an unconventional experiment. Fisher takes readers on two journeys: an intriguing global journey—her year of solo travel—and the relational journey she and her husband embark upon as they skillfully negotiate their different priorities and preferences. We accompany them through a series of reunions and poignant farewells as they stay connected and gradually grow comfortable being together and apart. After the marriage sabbatical is over, both spouses are surprised by the outcome of their daring experiment. With gray divorce on the rise, Leah Fisher’s memoir demonstrates a creative way to fulfill individual needs without having to make the painful choice between forfeiting heartfelt dreams or leaving one’s marriage to achieve them. A riveting travel story that offers wise guidance on maintaining marital friendship, My Marriage Sabbatical is proof that couples can keep growing as individuals and partners all through their lives. Author: Leah Fisher Publication Date: January 7, 2025 -
Jealous of her brilliant older sister, Ernestine longs for her father’s approval as a little girl but is never good enough. When she discovers a talent for the flute, she meets a charismatic teacher who gives her the encouragement she craves and becomes her surrogate father. After winning several competitions, she dreams of being a professional musician, but her stern father ridicules the idea and forces her to attend Emory University as a math major like her sister.
Ernestine doesn’t give up on her musical dreams, however, and halfway through college she wins the second flute chair in the Atlanta Symphony. There, she sits beside her former teacher, the principal flute. At first, she loves working with him, but after one successful season he turns on her and does everything in his power to get her fired. Devastated by her idol’s merciless harassment, she’s driven into a spiral of suicidal depression. As she tries to recover, her vulnerability is exploited, again and again, by the very men she turns to for help.
A harrowing account of one woman’s battle with twentieth-century misogyny, Countermelodies follows Ernestine as, through the darkness, she clings to her love for the flute and her unshakable dream of making it in the cutthroat world of classical music.
Author: Ernestine Whitman Publication date: September 24, 2024 -
Bridey is tethered to her mom’s addiction to dangerous men who park their Harley-Davidsons in the house and kick holes in all their doors. Raised to be her mother’s keeper, rescuer, and punching bag, Bridey gets used to stuffing her life into black trash bags, hauling them between Alaska and California, and changing schools every time her mom moves in a new monster or runs away from one.
Desperately seeking the normal life she’s observed in sitcoms and her friends’ families, Bridey earns her way into a fancy, private college, where she tries to forget who she is until her mom calls with a threat that drops Bridey to her knees. Watching doctors and police interrogate her mother at the hospital, Bridey realizes her mom has become a monster herself . . . and she doesn’t want to be saved.
But Bridey does.
Bright Eyes is about the indomitable spirit of a young girl forced to be brave, required to be resilient, and conditioned to be optimistic, and how she ultimately uses the same traits that helped her to survive her mother’s chaos to create her own happily-ever-after.
Author: Bridey Thelen-Heidel Publication date: September 24, 2024 -
Immersion is a memoir that takes the reader on a captivating emotional and physical journey through Linda Murphy Marshall’s life: from the longstanding, crippling impact of family members’ low expectations and abuse, to her discovery as a young adult that she possesses special skills in foreign languages.
Linda is taught from an early age that she has little of value to offer the world. But her love of and affinity for languages enables her to create a new life—to separate herself from her toxic environment and to build a successful, decades-long career as a professional multilinguist. It’s a rewarding vocation, but a challenging one: her assignments with the US federal government take her on some hair-raisingly dangerous journeys, some to countries with unstable governments and even active war zones. But these sometimes-harrowing experiences teach her how to open the “windows” around her, unearth her true self, and develop a healthy sense of self-worth—and ultimately, paradoxically, her work and travel so far from home allow her to come home to herself.
Author: Linda Murphy Marshall Publication date: September 24, 2024 -
Relocated with her family to Cold War–era West Germany, Army Brat and middle sister of three Mary grapples with the torment exacted by her older sister, the high moral expectations of her military father, and societal pressure to conform to traditional gender roles during the rise of the feminism movement. Through the transformative power of place, travel, and the people she encounters, Mary embarks on a journey of self-discovery, learning about social justice and finding her voice in a world still shaped by male dominance. Rich with historical context, Out of Place is a poignant and compelling exploration of identity, personal growth, and the enduring strength that comes from embracing one’s purpose. Author: Mary McKnight Publication Date: December 3, 2024 -
At nine years old, Lynette Charity looked on, frozen in place, as her father hit her mother so hard that she flipped over their front porch railing and fell into the hedges below. That night, young Lynette hatched a plan: she would escape this life, no matter what it took. And a month later, after watching the first episode of a new show called Ben Casey, she decided that becoming a doctor was her way out. At some point, Lynette noticed that all the real doctors and nurses who took care of her were Black and all the make-believe doctors and nurses on TV were white. Did it make a difference? Not to her. Over the next decade-plus, she focused on her studies. At a time when segregation was still alive and well in Virginia, she forged her mother’s signature on transfer papers so she could go to a better-resourced white school on the other side of town. Upon finishing high school, she got a full ride to Pittsburgh’s Chatham College. And after graduating Chatham with honors, she became a member of Tufts University School of Medicine's Class of 1978, one of seven Black women in her class. Raw, candid, and inspiring, Escape Plan is the remarkable story of how, through perseverance and single-minded determination, a Black girl from the 1960s South faced down adversity, exceeded everyone’s expectations, and fulfilled her dreams. Author: Lynette D. Charity, MD Publication Date: November 12, 2024 -
The Nutcracker Chronicles, a modern twist on the beloved holiday ballet, intertwines the story of Clara and her nutcracker prince with the true-life stories that unfold backstage. The curtain rises on Ballet El Paso’s production of The Nutcracker, where young Janine Kovac is cast as Fritz, the boy who breaks the nutcracker. Her director is Ingeborg Heuser, a German woman who once performed for Hitler and who peppers her teaching with insults like, “Why can’t you just dance like a pretty girl?” At least it’s better than “You look like a cow on ice skates,” which is what the other girls hear daily. Onstage, Janine wins the battle and embarks on a voyage through a snowy forest to the Land of the Sweets, where she serves as spectator to a beautiful dance. She also travels offstage, leaving El Paso to study at San Francisco Ballet before landing a job in Iceland and returning to California, where she rises through the ranks from soldier to snowflake to candy soloist. Eventually, however, she is relegated to watching other people dance—her husband, her children, her students—and her claim to the spotlight is replaced by the quest to find joy in her new roles. Author: Janine Kovac Publication Date: November 12, 2024 -
At sixteen, Caroline longed to meet the man who owned the apartment she was hanging out at with her teenage friends. The one they said was a stripper—a fact that intrigued her. From the moment she finally saw Gary Richard, she craved his attention; and once their eyes met, he was all she wanted. Months later, she was dismayed to discover that she was pregnant. But she had Gary Richard, she reassured herself, and he was all she needed to be okay. A belief that didn’t change even when she held their week-old son in court, watching her boyfriend face charges for stolen property. This was her family, her life—so when Gary Richard’s lawyer suggested a ploy to show the judge he was a changed man, she married him. At seventeen years old, she became a wife. Over the next nine years, Caroline’s identity and dreams of a fairy-tale life became twisted by adultery, betrayal, poverty, court cases, and lies. And then, one evening, the reality of her marriage finally became clear to her after a sergeant revealed she was the victim of one of her husband’s crimes—statutory rape—and her son’s DNA was the evidence the prosecution needed to convict him. Author: Brandi Dredge Publication Date: October 22, 2024 -
A parent should never outlive their own child, yet this is the position Janice Jensen found herself in after the drowning of her nine-year-old son. In the aftermath of this tragedy, Janice dedicated herself to her roles as mother to her surviving daughter and wife to her devastated husband even as she grappled with her grief. As a non-swimmer, Janice experienced water’s unforgiving power through the loss of her son, but as time went on, she also learned to appreciate its redemptive and healing properties. She sculled symbolic and real rivers, taking the necessary side channels to find waves that soaked peace and happiness into her body, mind, and heart. She learned to sail. And she fell in love with ballroom dancing, a passion that eventually led her back to the very place where she lost her son. A poignant, heartfelt story that takes readers through the everyday ups and downs of life after a tragedy and highlights the need to view each person’s grief journey and timeline as unique. One Ripple at a Time comforts readers and, through decades of the author’s personal quest, imparts a crucial message: The best of you is just around the bend. Author: Janice Jensen Publication Date: October 15, 2024 -
Dr. Dawn Filos has always had a passion for animals—and with a lot of hard work and perseverance, she turned that passion into a career. Here, with emotional honesty, Dr. Dawn shares her colorful, memorable journey from nervous novice to seasoned, self-assured doctor. This modern-day James Herriot ultimately finds her niche as a house-call vet, where she creates a way to practice on her own terms with the privilege of unique, intimate access into the homes and lives of her beloved patients and their human families. Sometimes heartwarming, sometimes sad, and often hilarious, Tales of a Pet Vet will resonate deeply with pet lovers everywhere. Author: Dr. Dawn Filos Publication Date: October 8, 2024 -
When the pediatrician places the measuring tape around her infant’s head and notes, “His head is a little small,” Joanne knows that motherhood won’t be as she had dreamt. Even as a special educator, Joanne isn’t prepared to raise a child with a life-limiting brain malformation. Nor is she ready for the compounded pain and alienation that comes when her second son is diagnosed with autism. But the struggle to balance her sons’ medical and educational challenges drives Joanne to reconnect with the lessons she learned as a modern dancer—and there she finds enlightenment.
Inspired by her experience performing José Limón’s There Is a Time, based on Ecclesiastes 3, each chapter of Fall and Recovery details a dance lesson and the dichotomy of parenting children with disabilities. Over time, Joanne discovers that surviving motherhood isn’t a matter of strength, bravery, or faith. It’s a matter of linking your past experiences and creating your own purpose. It’s realizing that we live simultaneously in love and grief. In the end, dance teaches Joanne not only how to move freely through pain but also how to fall and recover.
Author: Joanne De Simone Publication date: September 17, 2024 -
At first grateful to be able remodel the dining room of her family’s modest home in Connecticut to accommodate her eighty-six-year-old father for what everyone felt would be a short duration of care, Cindy Eastman ultimately experienced a whole gamut of feelings over the course of what turned out to be four years of caring for her dying dad. Caregiving impacts everyone, and this account—told in essays recorded before, during, and after the time Eastman’s father was with her—details that impact, not just on the primary caregiver but also the rest of the family.
One of the reasons Eastman committed to writing down her experiences was because she predicted that once her dad died, there would be a tendency to soften or even deny any of the negative and challenging times—and there were many. As of 2020, more than 53 million adults provide homecare in this country, and the reality of that arrangement is different for every family. It is not, as some might suggest, a “noble gesture” but rather an elegant conflict—an intricate reassembling of the family dynamic that many people don’t ever see coming. In these candid, often poignant essays, Cindy Eastman brings all the emotions of taking on the challenging responsibility of caregiving a parent at the end of their life to the surface.
Author: Cindy Eastman Publication date: September 17, 2024 -
“Don’t be silly! Girls can’t fly,” seven-year-old Lola’s father admonishes her as they fly across Canada on a commercial flight in 1962. She is crushed—but decides he must be right. She’s only ever seen male pilots, after all.
Highway to the Sky begins during the empty zone of women in aviation, a three-decade drought following WWII when men reclaimed the jobs that had been performed by women during the war and forced women back to diapers and dishes, where they “belonged.”
Despite Lola’s childhood desire to avoid the straitjacket of traditional female roles and become a pilot, her desperate need for unconditional affection after a lonesome childhood sways her determination. At age twenty, she leaps into marriage and motherhood. Four years, one toxic relationship, and one private pilot license later, she leaves her husband, even though she knows she’ll be censured by friends, family, and 1970s society at large.
Lola’s head-on battle with tradition continues as the lone female pilot in her advanced flight training program and on the job as a flight instructor, bush pilot, charter pilot, and commuter airline pilot between 1979 and 1993. Flying is challenging at times, yes—but her true obstacles are the hostility, sabotage, and discrimination she faces in her industry. She perseveres, however. Ultimately, flying is what gives her the courage to regain control of her life—and helps her find personal happiness.
Author: Lola Reid Allin Publication date: September 17, 2024 -
When Alicia Rodriguez, a successful entrepreneur recovering from divorce and loss, accepts an invitation to Ecuador to help a friend who is studying with a shaman, she has no idea how profoundly the decision will change her life’s course.
In Ecuador Alicia meets Napo, a powerful shaman, and they begin an extraordinary relationship that spans two continents and eight years. As their connection deepens, Alicia learns the principles of shamanism and witnesses Napo’s remarkable healing abilities. Confronted with the illusion of her life in the United States, she decides to move to Ecuador to be with him, and they make plans to build a healing center together on the coast. Within a short time, however, she realizes that she has surrendered her power and agency to Napo, who now wields it as a weapon against her. After years of inner struggle, Alicia finally finds the courage to leave Ecuador and moves to Portugal, where she finds peace . . . until an unexpected phone call rekindles old memories.
An extraordinary memoir steeped in spirituality, shamanism, and metaphysics, The Shaman’s Wife is the story of a woman who, through a daring journey of self-discovery, reclaims and embraces her feminine wisdom—and realizes that love is the answer to her lifelong spiritual quest.
Author: Alicia Rodriguez Publication date: September 10, 2024 -
At the age of eight, Linda Lockwood moves with her family to an isolated ranch in eastern Washington State. Within two years, she’s patrolling the ranch on horseback alongside her border collie—herding sheep, killing rattlesnakes, and defending the ranch’s livestock from coyotes, bears, and even trespassing hunters—and working tirelessly to realize her dream of training horses. But her most daunting challenge is one hard work can’t overcome: her mother is descending into madness. And Linda’s deepest fear is that she might inherit the schizophrenia that threatens to dismantle her family.
At age twenty-five, Linda marries, but the joy of her first pregnancy is darkened by her mother’s suicide. Then she endures a painful miscarriage and the death of her beloved grandmother, traumatic events that send her back in time to the births and deaths of animals—domesticated and wild—that she loved in childhood. Eventually, her own family grows, but her happiness is haunted by questions people have tiptoed around all her life. How did her mother become schizophrenic? What did she endure as a patient in 1960s mental hospitals? Might Linda and even her children be next to battle that catastrophic mental disorder? Driven by the courage and will she sharpened as a rancher, Linda vows to find out.
Author: Linda Lockwood Publication date: September 10, 2024 -
Born to a depressed, exhausted mother and an abusive father who uses his seven children as cheap labor for his business schemes, Sue, Carole, and Kathy raise themselves in their chaotic household. The sisters all marry young; two divorce quickly. But despite the obstacles they face, the three women grow into confident businesswomen and remain extremely close as they build families and recover from their toxic childhood.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the sisters gather over chilled martinis to take a serious look at the future and decide they should be together—in business. Bring on the cake. Liqueur-infused cake, that is. They soon start handing out samples of their inventions at farmers markets like seasoned carnival barkers, and soon a Food Network producer who’s stopped by their table invites them to New York City—sparking a hilarious adventure involving one-way streets, security guards, and the NYPD, all in an effort to get their cake into the hands of the producers at The Food Network and Rachel Ray.
Following Sue, Carole, and Kathy from childhood and through the development of the Full Spirited Flavours cake company, Cakewalk is a delightful romp that will have readers rooting for these three sisters every slice of the way.
Author: Sue Katein, Carole Algier, and Kathy Lanyon Publication Date: September 3, 2024 -
Growing up in Santa Barbara, California, way too close to the Hollywood dream machine, Jenna Tico’s self-worth wanes to invisibility when her identity becomes enmeshed with validation from celebrities and spiritual F-boys . . . until she claws her way back to empowerment. Here, Tico shares vulnerable personal essays, stories, and poetry—all grouped following the cycles of the moon—chronicling her journey from late bloomer to full grownup.Observing the world of twenty-something relationships from perspectives as diverse as a bachelorette houseboat, a music festival afterparty, and the airplane ride to a death bed, she validates the experiences of women who feel like they have been abandoned by the generation that came before them. Her self-reflective stories encourage healthy life choices for young women without telling them where, what, or how to live their lives—and always with a healthy dash of humor on the side. Simultaneously hilarious and poignant (without the whiff of morality play),Cancer Moon invites readers to embrace their twenties—aka the “age of wallowing”—as a humorous and necessary step toward understanding how we become who we want to be in the world. Author: Jenna Tico Publication date: September 17, 2024 -
Growing up in West Texas, Jane Little Botkin didn’t have designs on becoming a beauty queen. But not long after joining a pageant on a whim in college, she became the first protégé of El Paso’s Richard Guy and Rex Holt, known as the “Kings of Beauty”—just as the 1970’s counterculture movement began to take off. A pink, rose-covered gown—a Guyrex creation—symbolizes the fairy tale life that young women in Jane’s time imagined beauty queens had. Its near destruction exposes reality: the author’s failed relationship with her mother, and her parents’ failed relationship with one another. Weaving these narrative threads together is the Wild West notion that anything is possible, especially do-overs. The Pink Dress awakens nostalgia for the 1960s and 1970s, the era’s conflicts and growth pains. A common expectation that women went to college to get “MRS” degrees—to find a husband and become a stay-at-home wife and mother—often prevailed. How does one swim upstream against this notion among feminist voices that protest “If You Want Meat, Go to a Butcher!” at beauty pageants, two flamboyant showmen, and a developing awareness of self? Torn between women’s traditional roles and what women could be, Guyrex Girls evolved, as did the author. Author: Jane Little Botkin Publication date: September 10, 2024 Download Book Club Questions -
Born to an abusive mother and a drug-dealer father, Ginelle Testa is not exactly set up for success—and her early years are just as troubled as one might expect. By the end of her thirteenth year, she’s started experimenting with alcohol and drugs, has fallen prey to anorexia, and has been sexually assaulted. And that’s only the beginning of her spiral down into addiction and disordered eating. As Ginelle progresses into young adulthood, she hits several substance-related bottoms. In her senior year of college, after blacking out and ending up naked in her dorm’s community shower, she goes to Alcoholics Anonymous and gets sober. But steering clear of drugs and alcohol, she discovers, is not a cure-all; despite the positive changes she’s made, her sex and dating life continue to be troubled and turbulent. Then she finally finds Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous . . . and begins to truly heal. Raw, relatable, and powerful, Testa’s is a riveting tale of climbing up from rock bottom—and learning to make a home in oneself instead of in substances and other people. Author: Ginelle Testa Publication Date: September 3, 2024
